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Raphael Ede, Enugu
Enugu Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, yesterday urged state government workers to pray for financial windfall for his administration to be able to implement the new national wage.
Ugwuanyi, who made the call during the 2019 May Day celebration said his administration was committed to the welfare of workers and had made salary payment first charge priority.
Ugwuanyi said he had taken notice of the new national minimum wage as signed by President Muhammadu Buhari and charged the workers to pray for financial breakthrough while remaining true to their obligations.
“We will ensure that these issues are comprehensively and satisfactorily addressed in concert with other relevant government agencies and departments,” he said.
Earlier in an address, the Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the state, Chukwuma Igbokwe, said the good relationship between government and workers had translated to improved workers’ welfare.
Igbokwe commended the state government for setting aside N100 million monthly for the payment of backlog of gratuities, adding that the latest release would pay up to September 2010 gratuities.
The chairman, however, said it had become imperative to increase the money to N200 million as there was lot of backlog of gratuities.
On pensions, Igbokwe said pensioners in government parastatal were owed up to 32 months and appealed to the state government to centralise the system of salary payment to enable workers in government parastatals get salaries same time with their peers in the ministries.
Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Virginus Nwobodo, said the governor had within his first tenure given workers hope.
Nwobodo said the state government had paid over six years of gratuities in batches and appealed for increase in the monthly release to N300 million for faster payment.
